How big is the learning curve with TOG?

[Jennefer@SSA]

I plan on starting TOG when my oldest is in 5th grade which will be the 2011-2012 school year. Now that it has all been redesigned I am wondering if I should go ahead and buy Year 4 for the coming year to use as we work though SOTW 4. That would give me a year to play around and get comfortable with what's available and how to use it.

 

Would this be helpful or is this my typical overprep/overkill?! ;)

[lovinmomma]

I plan on starting TOG when my oldest is in 5th grade which will be the 2011-2012 school year. Now that it has all been redesigned I am wondering if I should go ahead and buy Year 4 for the coming year to use as we work though SOTW 4. That would give me a year to play around and get comfortable with what's available and how to use it.

 

Would this be helpful or is this my typical overprep/overkill?! ;)

 

I honestly don't KNOW anything, but I plan to purchase TOG 1 soon even though I plan to pretty much only use SOTW for the first couple of years. I figure that I can learn so much in the meantime, but keep it light for my kiddos. That way anything that I've learned I can share with them as we go without having to DO school.

[WTMindy]

I wouldn't. We used SOTW for the first history rotation and then switched to TOG in 5th grade for the second (and 3rd rotation, eventually). I would just focus on SOTW 4 next year. However, what I would suggest is (if you can afford it), buy TOG 1 now, which will give you time to look it over, make lists of the books that your library has and which ones you need to buy, etc. I did this and it allowed me to slowly buy a lot of the books I needed used, rather than new. SOTW 4 is really full and we learned A LOT from it. I didn't find the learning curve very hard because I had spent a lot of time looking over the curriculum before we ever started using it.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I think the FOG lifts after about 3 weeks of use, but as you get comfy you'll add piece by piece to the program. I think after about one unit, adding on didn't really affect us b/c during those 8 weeks, I was exploring while the children did the basics.

 

At this point, I think there are tutorials on TOG out there (posts from folks like us and the new digital walk through) that could expedite that for you.

 

I would suggest buying 4 so you can start educating yourself. If you're dc is in UG, you could gain some interesting insight from the D level and add on your "own brilliance" while teaching....ds will be impressed! This great thread really inspired me and many others about your education being imperative...great wisdom here.

 

IMO, using TOG in UG is a lot like SOTW + AG. You'll read a lit book, do maps, and some sort of activity...just like SOTW. The difference would be the suggestions for different cores. Having said that, SOTW is listed anyways, so you could choose to use it as your spine.

[abrightmom]

:lurk5: I am debating the same thing now. I do see TOG being totally unnecessary for the young kids I have. However, if I even *think* I want to use it then I'm also considering it "now" to have plenty of time to play with it, think about books, learn from it, get ideas, etc. before it really matters. :D

 

Would love to hear from other TOG users and how they feel about it/what they think.

 

ETA: Just today I printed up the samples for Year 2 and I am going to do a mini unit with those (Colonial America). Perhaps that will be enough to get a good feel for how it works?

Edited May 6, 2010 by abrightmom
forgot to mention something

[johnandtinagilbert]

:lurk5: I am debating the same thing now. I do see TOG being totally unnecessary for the young kids I have. However, if I even *think* I want to use it then I'm also considering it "now" to have plenty of time to play with it, think about books, learn from it, get ideas, etc. before it really matters. :D

 

Would love to hear from other TOG users and how they feel about it/what they think.

 

ETA: Just today I printed up the samples for Year 2 and I am going to do a mini unit with those (Colonial America). Perhaps that will be enough to get a good feel for how it works?

Seriously, read the thread I linked above your post. It's amazingly wise.

[jewellsmommy]

:lurk5: I am debating the same thing now. I do see TOG being totally unnecessary for the young kids I have. However, if I even *think* I want to use it then I'm also considering it "now" to have plenty of time to play with it, think about books, learn from it, get ideas, etc. before it really matters. :D

 

Would love to hear from other TOG users and how they feel about it/what they think.

 

ETA: Just today I printed up the samples for Year 2 and I am going to do a mini unit with those (Colonial America). Perhaps that will be enough to get a good feel for how it works?

 

 

I bought TOG for dd's 2nd grade yr (this yr) and I don't think it was too much or her too young. I think I know what you mean, though. However, the benefit will be when we come back around I will be a pro! I would say go ahead and get it and put some of it to use as soon as you can. Even if you only do a few supplemental bits from it. My dd loves the lapbooks and the literature selections. She is LG but we use SOTW as scheduled in the alt resources. I read the teacher's notes more for myself. I don't 'teach' from them. TOG has been wonderful for her. It makes me think that it is a waste that I only have 1 to teach!:D

[classicHSmom]

 

IMO, using TOG in UG is a lot like SOTW + AG. You'll read a lit book, do maps, and some sort of activity...just like SOTW. The difference would be the suggestions for different cores. Having said that, SOTW is listed anyways, so you could choose to use it as your spine.

 

:iagree: We are currently using TOG 2 for LG and this is exactly how we use it.

 

Also, as mentioned, SOTW is listed in the alternate booklist as a spine for UG, so you can totally use it with TOG. In my opinion, this would be a very nice transition into TOG and give you the time to "to play around and get comfortable" with it.

 

ETA: I didn't answer your original question. I found that it took me the typical 3 or 4 weeks to get the hang of what I was doing. I'm still tweaking, though.

Edited May 7, 2010 by classicHSmom

[Annabel Lee]

Jeneffer, it's one of my plans (hehe, I have to pick between 2) to use TOG when my ds9 hits 5th grade in '11-'12 as well. I've wondered this same thing as well.

 

Tina, that post - WOW. It's a goldmine of wisdom. What resonated w/ me is that so much of our very hard work is largely unseen. We'd get more praise & recognition from the avg. neighbor or aquaintence (or sometimes friend/family member) if we made sure our houses were sparkling clean instead of spending time preparing ourselves to educate our children (i.e. self-education, planning). Thanks for posting that link.

[MariannNOVA]

I think the FOG lifts after about 3 weeks of use, but as you get comfy you'll add piece by piece to the program. I think after about one unit, adding on didn't really affect us b/c during those 8 weeks, I was exploring while the children did the basics.

 

At this point, I think there are tutorials on TOG out there (posts from folks like us and the new digital walk through) that could expedite that for you.

 

I would suggest buying 4 so you can start educating yourself. If you're dc is in UG, you could gain some interesting insight from the D level and add on your "own brilliance" while teaching....ds will be impressed! This great thread really inspired me and many others about your education being imperative...great wisdom here.

 

IMO, using TOG in UG is a lot like SOTW + AG. You'll read a lit book, do maps, and some sort of activity...just like SOTW. The difference would be the suggestions for different cores. Having said that, SOTW is listed anyways, so you could choose to use it as your spine.

 

 

Tina: Thanks for this link!:)